4 Comments
User's avatar
Jay's avatar

This is so good--we need much more of this type of dialogue. I truly think "family" or "care" policy dialogues are one of the few ways to break through our toxic polarization.

I really appreciated Ivana's point about liberals calling it “care policy” and conservatives calling it “family policy." I’m usually pretty skeptical of language or semantic debates (probably a side effect of working in the mental health/addiction space, where word policing can get intense), but that distinction feels genuinely important.

Expand full comment
Ivana Greco's avatar

Yes I think there is a real gap here, and part of the problem is that we are simply not talking about the same thing.

Expand full comment
Jay's avatar

Hmm...I think there are obvious differences in assumptions and preferences, and the policy details that follow from them.

But is the directional alignment (both sides agree that "It doesn't have to be this hard" to raise a family in America), potentially more important for building a movement?

Expand full comment
Ivana Greco's avatar

Yes! But what I mean is that it’s hard to see that alignment because often progressives and conservatives do not understand that they are aligned because they do not understand that they are talking (in their own way) about the same thing.

Expand full comment